Feeling the pressure, but 'we'll never do it.' Some Huntsville businesses oppose smoking bans

"Everybody seems to want to take away the freedoms this country is great for and we're not going to be a part of that," Mikus said.

HUNTSVILLE, Alabama – As more downtown Huntsville restaurants and bars have gone cold turkey, Nick's Ristorante general manager Dave Mikus has felt the pressure to ban smoking and other tobacco products from his establishment.

Nick's Ristorante offers a smoke-friendly lounge, where patrons can eat dinner and afterward enjoy a scotch and cigar. For a lot of customers, "that's a big plus," Mikus said.

If it were up to Mikus, he would allow smoking anywhere inside the building.

"We're feeling the pressure to go non-smoking, but we'll never do it," he said. "Everybody seems to want to take away the freedoms this country is great for and we're not going to be a part of that."

In the meantime, Voodoo is selling e-cigarette kits for $23 and single disposable e-cigarettes for $7.50.

Nicole Wood, spokeswoman for The Bottle and Humphrey's on Washington Street, said the transition to non-smoking has been easier than the owners anticipated.

"The Bottle is welcoming back guests that previously visited with us and enjoyed the food but disliked the smoke in the bar area," she said. "The crowd at Humphrey's has also been a welcome surprise to us all. There are both old and new faces coming into enjoy the restaurant and patio."

Furniture Factory owner Mark Komara is a non-smoker and would love to ban cigarettes from his downtown Huntsville watering hole, but said it would be fatal for his business, which has a loyal following of customers who are smokers.

To help clear the air, Komara has banned all smoking products from the dining room and worked with Whites Refrigeration to install a $4,000 to $5,000 high-tech smoking filtration system in the front bar area. Every six weeks, he spends between $300 and $400 on new filters for the equipment.

He spent $18,000 on a similar system at The Station in Madison, which he acquired on New Year's Eve and reopened in March. For Komara, the expense has paid off.

"If I was starting a new business, I would go non-smoking," he said. "Like Below the Radar, when they opened, they went non-smoking from the beginning. That was smart. ... But I just can't do it. I have too many customers that smoke."